Ivy took a deep breath, bent down, and first took a bedsheet from her bag, spreading it on the floor.
Next, Ivy carefully removed the corpse's clothing, neatly folding it to the side, then took off the corpse’s shoes and put them on her own feet.
Then, Ivy carefully placed the corpse on the bed, wrapping it tightly like a mummy.
Finally, Ivy took the hammer from her bag.
The thud of the hammer echoed, somewhat muffled by the clothing.
The corpse, already desiccated from the loss of blood and further withered by the dark energy, felt different from a normal corpse. The texture was more like… dried chicken from her previous life.
The flesh was dry and easily separated from the bone, and the bones were brittle, cracking with a single blow, and shattering with another.
“Consistent with the basic description of the [Blood and Iron Sacrifice] knowledge in my mind,” Ivy murmured, testing the corpse and confirming its properties matched the knowledge she’d gained. The tension within her finally eased.
This was the most crucial step. If anything went wrong, she would have to use a more time-consuming and troublesome method.
Fortunately, the knowledge the system had implanted in her mind had proven to be accurate.
“The male corpse is just repetitive physical labor. And I only need minor adjustments for the female corpse. I’ll finish it before lunch,” she thought.
Ivy focused her mind, carefully and meticulously executing her plan.
She didn’t finish before lunch.
After school in the afternoon, Ivy had to spend another hour in the storeroom.
The task was more demanding than she had anticipated.
Even though the bodies were like dried chicken, it wasn't easy work. Swinging the hammer repeatedly over a hundred times was exhausting.
Furthermore, cleaning up the crime scene required meticulous attention to detail and was even more tiring than the repetitive physical labor.
“First time, lack of experience. Next time, I’ll be much more proficient. Wait, why am I already thinking about the next time? Ugh,” she muttered.
Ivy climbed out the window, went around to the school building’s restroom, changed back into her own shoes, stuffed the bulging bag onto her back, and slowly walked out of the school.
At that time, there were still a few students and teachers preparing to leave on the school grounds. Ivy blended in seamlessly.
Upon returning home, only she and her mother were there.
Using the excuse of a stomachache, Ivy skipped dinner and went back to her room, locking the door from the inside.
She sat at her desk, taking out paper and pen. She carefully recalled her actions from the day and meticulously recorded them.
Like checking answers after an exam, Ivy reviewed her notes, simulating the events in her mind over and over again, before finally letting out a long sigh of relief.
She didn’t tear up the paper and throw it in the trash. Instead, she crumpled it into a ball, added a few iron beads, and swallowed it whole.
She had literally hidden the secret in her stomach!
“Next, I just need to dispose of the remains and bone fragments,” she thought.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Ivy glanced at her bag, unzipped it, and took out the clothes, shoes, wallet, phone, and claw hammer.
After a moment's thought, she pulled out an old bag from the closet, put the clothes, shoes, and wallet inside, and tied it tightly.
She would find a place to bury it on her way to school tomorrow.
Throwing it in the trash was out of the question. Lower City's Ninth District had many vagrants, scavengers, and elderly people who would occasionally rummage through the trash.
Ivy planned to hide the phone separately, as she might need it later.
As for the bedsheet-wrapped “dried meat” in her bag, Ivy needed to be even more careful.
The claw hammer wasn’t enough to completely pulverize the bones into ash. Otherwise, she could have simply scattered them to the wind. Now, that wouldn’t work. If someone found the bone fragments, they might still be able to identify the species.
Burying them deeply wasn't safe either.
Ivy had heard Eric Ruiz complain more than once at the dinner table about stray dogs in various neighborhoods digging up human bones, adding to the workload of the precinct. Ultimately, it was all because those scavengers were encroaching on the dogs' territory.
In short, living with an investigator, Ivy had unintentionally, or perhaps intentionally, developed a keen sense of counter-surveillance.
Ivy reorganized her bag, took out a stack of exam papers from the drawer, placed them on the bed, and covered them with a pencil case.
She casually placed her bag on a chair, stretched her aching back, lay down on the bed, and closed her eyes to rest.
[You have completed a body disposal and evidence destruction task. Your efficient and discreet handling was in line with the character's profile.]
[Game inheritance progress increased. This time, the progress increased to 1%.]
[Rewards have been distributed. Please check and claim!]
Ivy: “…”
The surprise was overwhelming, but on second thought, disposing of the bodies wasn't exactly an extreme act.
She had perfectly met the system’s expectations for her character!
Ivy waited for a while. She didn’t feel any new knowledge entering her mind, nor did she experience any strange changes in her body, which was unusual.
“So it wasn’t knowledge or skill-based rewards directly imparted to me?”
Ivy had a guess.
“It must be external assets—property, items, business influence, subordinates, etc. But what kind?”
Ivy licked her lips, feeling a mixture of anticipation and disappointment.
She was excited because external assets were the essence of this business tycoon game, and the rewards had been distributed.
She was disappointed because the rewards hadn't been fully delivered; there was a delay in receiving them.
“Where were the rewards delivered? How do I claim them? Give me a hint, system,” Ivy silently asked.
The system remained unresponsive, clearly lacking customer service functionality.
Without an answer, Ivy had no choice but to get out of bed and wait.
Ivy began her thirteenth set of physical training exercises.
She turned on her computer, put on her headphones, and played a video at the highest playback speed, following the “One—Two—Three—Four—” count with slow, deliberate movements.
It wasn't the video lagging; she had slowed the playback speed to one-third.
Time seemed to flow three times slower, and Ivy soon started to sweat profusely.
Three hours passed. Ivy’s muscles felt stiff and swollen, and her whole body was drenched.
She felt like stopping to rest. The warmth of her bed beckoned, but she quickly pulled an iron bead from her pocket and swallowed it whole.
A cold sensation spread down her esophagus, and the intense feeling of fullness dispelled her drowsiness.
[Absorption rate increased ↑]
[Absorption rate increased ↑]
[Current absorption rate: 1.1%]
Others who trained needed to maintain a sense of hunger to avoid stagnation. Ivy, however, did the opposite. She used the feeling of fullness to force the absorption rate.
The “↑” flashing on her retina was more stimulating than any worldly encouragement.
Several hours passed. The room and the outside world were dark. The night seemed to enhance the allure of her warm bed, beginning to cast a sleep spell on Ivy.
Ivy had lost count of how many sets she'd done. Her whole body felt heavy as lead, and her eyes occasionally drifted towards her bed.
However, the frequency of the “↑” flashing on her retina was also increasing.
The more strained and exhausted she became, the more effective each set of exercises became, leaving her stomach emptier, the absorption rate increasing faster, the stimulation stronger, her willpower stronger, and her resistance to sleep and fatigue greater.
It was a delicate balance between the increasing exhaustion and her strengthening willpower, a constant push and pull.
Finally, at 4 AM.
Ivy’s body reached its limit. Her eyes closed, and she collapsed onto the bed, falling instantly asleep. The flashing on her retina stopped, displaying the day’s results.
[Iron Eater: Rank 1]
[Consumable Iron Types: 1]
[Absorbable Metal Properties: 1]
[Currently detected iron type—Common cast iron, absorption rate 2.4%.]
[Absorbed properties: ? ?]